Boston College Eagles Football Bowl History

Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl now just three days away, let us sojourn into the past.

Boston College Eagles football has played a few awfully nice bowl games in their history, with some massive gaps in postseason play due to the lack of bowls, and a general lack of winning enough.

Here is an abridged history of the Eagles and bowl games:

1930s: Bowl games start becoming officially sanctioned; the Rose Bowl was the first, with the Sugar, Cotton, Orange, and Sun all arriving by the end of the decade.

(1) 1939 Cotton Bowl: Under Frank Leahy, the Eagles are invited to their first-ever bowl game, the Cotton Bowl. In what must have been a real barn-burner, Boston College lost to Clemson, 6-3.

(2) 1940 Sugar Bowl: Boston College defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 19-13, in an undefeated campaign for their first bowl victory. The school claims a share of the national championship, though it is not formally recognized as such.

(3) 1942 Orange Bowl: Another good season, but the Alabama Crimson Tide get the better of this one in a 37-21 win.

1943-1981: Despite a number of winning seasons, the Eagles go 40 years in between bowl invitations. The number of games begins to grow throughout the decades, and though Boston College was considered as candidates for some games, they were not invited to any.

(4) 1982 Tangerine Bowl: Some quarterback from Natick got the Eagles back in the postseason, but it was the Auburn Tigers who emerged victorious in a 33-26 win.

(5) 1983 Liberty Bowl: The Eagles got to play their adversaries from South Bend in 1983, which resulted in a 19-18 loss for Boston College. By this point, the Eagles were 1-4 in bowl games.

(6) 1984 Cotton Bowl: Boston College and said quarterback from Natick had a special season, which culminated in an invitation to the Cotton Bowl. The Eagles beat the Houston Cougars, 45-28, for their first bowl win since 1940 in Doug Flutie’s final game.

(7) 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl: After a down 1985 season, Boston College was back in the postseason in 1986 with an invite to the Hall of Fame Bowl. This was their first of two bowl meetings with the Georgia Bulldogs, whom the Eagles beat, 27-24. Boston College won back-to-back bowl games for the first time.

(8) 1992 Hall of Fame Bowl: After a six-year absence, Tom Coughlin and the Eagles drew the Vols for the first time in a bowl since the 1940 Sugar Bowl. This time, however, it was Tennessee that came away with a 38-23 win.

(9) 1993 Carquest Bowl: Glenn Foley had himself a fine year, finishing fifth in Heisman voting. Riding the momentum from their big win over Notre Dame, the Eagles closed out 1993 and Coughlin’s BC career with a 31-13 win over future ACC rivals Virginia.

(10) 1994 Jeep Aloha Bowl: Three-straight bowl appearances for the Eagles, who made it back-to-back wins as they defeated the Kansas State Wildcats, 12-7. This was their only bowl appearance under Dan Henning, and in it, the Eagles racked up eight sacks.

(11) 1999 Insight.com Bowl: Tom O’Brien helped get Boston College back to the postseason after five years out, but maybe it would have been best if they’d stayed out one more year: the Colorado Buffaloes crushed the Eagles, 62-28.

The remaining bowls appear on the next page